[12V] Battery died while car was parked

[Manoj E]

Hello all,

I got my Tesla model 3 long range 3 months ago. I left my Tesla in my friends neighborhood while heading out of town. The car had ~100miles when I parked. When I returned after 3 days to my surprise I saw that the range was zero miles and after a while the car went offline. I couldn’t get in to the car. I got the car towed to Tesla service center next day and they told me that I hadn’t plugged in the car while I was out of town and that caused the battery to drain to zero. Anyone else faced a similar scenario where the battery died while the car was parked?

Thanks,
Manoj

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

not at 30miles/day!

although... if we do the math... it's possible...

 

[jjrandorin]

I am going to take a guess and say that you likely used sentry mode, since you "parked in your friends neighborhood". Sentry mode uses 1-2 miles per HOUR, 24-48 miles per day. That will go on till your car hits 20%, and it shuts down Sentry mode.

Then, regular drain will take the rest down, depending on how much you checked on the car etc.

So, this is likely self inflicted by:

1. Parking the car "for storage while going out of town" with only 100 miles on it
2. Likely using sentry mode because this is the exact instance in people think to use it, but may not realize that it drains 24 miles a day of range so should never be used for extended parking when not plugged in.
3. if Sentry mode wasnt used, checking on the car via the app will wake it up, so a lot of doing that is similar.

 

[orntar]

I don't post this to contradict you, but I parked recently at the airport in 25 F weather for almost exactly 24 hours and lost 12%.

Sentry was on, but only had 2 incidents (I think). Does usage depend on events?

 

[Sklith]

I don't post this to contradict you, but I parked recently at the airport in 25 F weather for almost exactly 24 hours and lost 12%.

Sentry was on, but only had 2 incidents (I think). Does usage depend on events?

Sentry mode being on uses a constant amount of power regardless of the number of events.

 

[jjrandorin]

I don't post this to contradict you, but I parked recently at the airport in 25 F weather for almost exactly 24 hours and lost 12%.

Sentry was on, but only had 2 incidents (I think). Does usage depend on events?

What was 12 percent of your battery? is that not somewhere between 24 and 48 miles of range? Note that, thats just sentry mode, if cabin overheat protection, standby summon, or battery heating turns on, it will be more.

 

[orntar]

What was 12 percent of your battery? is that not somewhere between 24 and 48 miles of range? Note that, thats just sentry mode, if cabin overheat protection, standby summon, or battery heating turns on, it will be more.

I suppose it is, lol. I guess my mind was blurring percent and miles. It is about 40 miles.

 

[Manoj E]

I am going to take a guess and say that you likely used sentry mode, since you "parked in your friends neighborhood". Sentry mode uses 1-2 miles per HOUR, 24-48 miles per day. That will go on till your car hits 20%, and it shuts down Sentry mode.

Then, regular drain will take the rest down, depending on how much you checked on the car etc.

So, this is likely self inflicted by:

1. Parking the car "for storage while going out of town" with only 100 miles on it
2. Likely using sentry mode because this is the exact instance in people think to use it, but may not realize that it drains 24 miles a day of range so should never be used for extended parking when not plugged in.
3. if Sentry mode wasnt used, checking on the car via the app will wake it up, so a lot of doing that is similar.

I am going to take a guess and say that you likely used sentry mode, since you "parked in your friends neighborhood". Sentry mode uses 1-2 miles per HOUR, 24-48 miles per day. That will go on till your car hits 20%, and it shuts down Sentry mode.

Then, regular drain will take the rest down, depending on how much you checked on the car etc.

So, this is likely self inflicted by:

1. Parking the car "for storage while going out of town" with only 100 miles on it
2. Likely using sentry mode because this is the exact instance in people think to use it, but may not realize that it drains 24 miles a day of range so should never be used for extended parking when not plugged in.
3. if Sentry mode wasnt used, checking on the car via the app will wake it up, so a lot of doing that is similar.

Sentry mode was off. It was cold outside around 35F. Apparently that caused the 12v to die.

 

[jjrandorin]

Sentry mode was off. It was cold outside around 35F. Apparently that caused the 12v to die.

Ahh, 12V,

The first post doesnt sound like 12v, it sounds like your HV battery was dead. Im going to add the additional qualifier of 12v to the thread title, because "battery died" on a tesla makes people think "the main battery died".

 

[EVRider-FL]

@Manoj E: You didn't say if the car was new when you got it 3 months ago or just new to you, but if it was a few years old, having the 12V battery die is not unusual, regardless of the temperature.

 

[GtiMart]

The OP does mention: "When I returned after 3 days to my surprise I saw that the range was zero miles and after a while the car went offline. ". That does sound like the HV battery was at least close to empty. In that case it would stop charging the 12V I guess but the problem remains of the main battery draining.
What is 100 miles of range? I'm not sure of the constant for that model in miles, but using something like 240 gives around 24kWh? IF the car stayed awake the whole time, whether from sentry (which is reported as off), smart summon, or simply by consulting the mobile app all the time, it would have consumed around 250w*72h=18kWh. There's still a gap of 6kWh I cannot explain.
Maybe cabin overheat protection was on? It would have disabled at 20% too I think but could have drained significantly in the first day?

 

[KenC]

Sorry, but this thread is nonsensical.

 

[CactusOne]

On a side note..I have a new OEM 12V battery for sale if anyone is interested. I ended up buying a Lithium Ion. Battery is new and never installed. Phoenix, AZ area.

 

[Jeffrey@1344]

I had 77% on the main battery with no warning about the amount of charge on the 12V. The car shut down while in the car wash on a Saturday afternoon in the busiest car wash in town. It could not be towed and we couldn't get into it and it was locked in PARK. I called roadside assistance and told them about holding up everyone's car, etc. It took an HOUR to get the truck there to pull it out. No warning or notice that the 12v needed to be charged or replaced. I've had the car since June29, 2019 and have less than 7000 miles on it but keep it charged since Sentry Mode drains it otherwise. The guys at Tesla on Centinella Boulevard tell me that 2.5 years is the average life of a 12v. This is absolutely off the charts wrong. I've had plenty of cars with batteries that lasted a lot longer than 5 years. And yes. I do the automatic upgrades. Why do I hate the fact that I live more than ten miles from a Tesla service center. Never would have bought this car if I had known that the service people are untrained and give you that kind of answer about the battery.